f not
impossible, was at least practically inexpedient, for the Regulations
took cognizance only of a Division composed of three Brigades of equal
strength, were founded on this idea, and did not allow of adaptation
to any other distribution of force which might have to be employed.

It has already been pointed out in Chapter III. that they do not apply
to a Corps made up of several Divisions, and the same holds good of
Divisions of other than strictly normal composition. Everywhere, in
cases such as referred to above, the subdivision into Lines
('Treffen') in the spirit of the Regulations would very soon lead to
even worse disruption of the units than already happens with normal
Divisions of three Brigades. The want of proportion between the
number of the Lines and the columns from which they have to be formed
would be more glaring then than nowadays, when the number of Brigades
happen to be the same as the number of Lines; with the larger units
the difficulty of uniform speed and control would be a factor.

Now, Section 346 helps us over all these difficulties by
disembarrassing us of all stereotyped formations based upon numbers
alone, and leaves the Commander free to choose in what proportion and
in what order he will divide and move these masses.

Under modern conditions this latitude is indispensable, for the amount
of force to be applied depends on what is known about the enemy; but
the special shape the attack itself assumes, and more particularly its
breadth of front, will be determined by the width of front the enemy
opposes and the nature of the ground it has to move over; whilst as to
depth, this must be decided by our estimate of the quality of the
adversary's force, hence his shock power and the amount of his
possible reserves.

The consideration of all these conditions may, in proportion to the
numbers in hand, lead us to employ whole Brigades, Divisions, Corps,
or portions of these units, arranged in the most varied succession to
one another. Whether we should attack by 'Wings' or by 'Lines' must
depend on the circumstances of the movement, the order in which the
troops reach the field, and the nature of the country to be traversed;
and generally the preference will have to be given to the 'Wing
Attack,' for the reasons we have above developed.

This 'Wing Attack' will, therefore, always have to be employed when
time is available to form up the troops systematically for action, or
when the lines of